#mannat

I'm recently returned from 3 weeks in India, and yes, I did go to Mumbai. Purposefully booked an Airbnb around the corner from this place...much to the amusement of my hosts.

"We've never had anyone stay here before because of Shah Rukh Khan!"

Which I don't quite believe, but anyway...I was surprised how short that wall is in real life; it seems much more intimate. When he is standing on that platform, he is CLOSE.

It's a non-stop party out front - day & night. I imagine it's triple this number when he's actually living there. I heard it is one of the most visited tourist spots in Mumbai, and I can believe it.

Met a lot of fellow fans. It was fun to talk endlessly about SRK without feeling like you're some kind of weirdo. Had many pictures taken of my tattoo, and made it into a few vlogs as "the crazy person who came all the way from Alaska to see SRK." I got to see Devdas on the big screen, in a brand new digital transfer and it was amazing!

I was there with the crowd at midnight on the 1st, the cops drove us all the way to the other end of Bandstand before the crowd finally dispersed. It was sort of funny being one of the 6000 SRK fans being shooed past the two dozen people standing outside Salman's house.

I went back to Mannat the afternoon of the 2nd to find the whole sidewalk full of press, cameras on tripods, guys with long lenses sitting in the trees. The cops chased the fans away for a few hours before we got the word he wasn't coming out. Imo, there was no reason he couldn't have made an appearance; there were only a couple thousand people there and the press was waiting. The cops just didn't seem to have any kind of plan - didn't block off the street, didn't put up barriers.

When we got the word SRK wasn't coming one of the guys from the Chennai fan club I was hanging out with mentioned people were waiting for the man at the fan event. I was like "So, lets go there!" We jumped in a cab and headed over to the theater, where another large crowd was waiting.

We waited around and waited and suddenly - miracle of miracles - the man appeared! SRK in the flesh! I wasn't able to get a clear picture since we weren't near the front of the crowd (and my phone was at like 8%). He was only there very briefly, waved and blew a few kisses before the people rushed the gate and the cops had to beat everybody back.

The man definitely has an aura about him - you can feel it even at a distance. It's a rare thing, even among celebrities. Really wish I could have been closer...but life is full of disappointments.

One thing I like about Cheekh is that unlike most other drama’s I’ve watched till now, the dressing does not define a female character’s ‘character’. While usually they have stuck to the trope of a ‘loose woman’ wearing westernized clothing and her behaviour being anything but demure always being a hateful, selfish villainess who meets a horrible end; Cheekh shows a strong woman who uses her education and the values taught to her by her religion and culture to fight for justice and truth. 

Her dressing is not exposing to the point of sexualization or over-exposing when she wears western outfits, nor is it ill-fitting on her person and overtly ‘covered up’ to make her seem what the dramas like to term as a woman of good character.